Raúl Jiménez scored on a free kick in the 22nd minute and set up César Huerta’s goal in the 49th as Mexico stopped a seven-match winless streak against the United States with a 2-0 win on Tuesday night in Mauricio Pochettino’s second game as an American coach .

Mexico had five defeats and two draws against the US until September 2019.

Missing Christian Pulisic and several other regular starters, the US failed to make first-half shots for the first time since the friendly against El Tri in April 2023.

Jiménez curled a shot from more than 25 yards past Matt Turner for his 34th international goal. Jiménez created the second goal after meeting a through ball, Tim Ream let the ball clear, they regained possession from the defender and centered to Huerta.

Huerta slotted around Miles Robinson to beat Turner from close range on the penalty spot for his third international goal.

Pochettino, hired last month to replace Gregg Berhalter, led the Americans to a 2-0 win over Panama on his debut last weekend. His first competitive matches will be in a two-match Concacaf Nations League quarter-final next month.

Javier Aguirre won his second match since replacing Jaime Lozano as Mexico coach in August.

Fans at Akron Stadium shouted the homophobic chant that led to fines imposed by FIFA, but Costa Rican referee Keylor Herrera did not stop the match.